The Illuminated manuscript reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Illuminated manuscript

An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript, especially of a religious nature, in which the text is supplemented by the addition of colourful ornamentation, such as illuminated initials, borders and the like.

It is said that the illumination of manuscripts came about through the boredom felt by the monks in the scriptorium due to the repetitive nature of their copying. To entertain themselves, they first added mice or birds.

Their motifs are taken from heraldry or religious symbolism.

Techniques

Illumination was a complex and frequently costly process. As such, it was usually reserved for special books: an altar Bible, for example.

Text

The text was usually written first. Sheets of vellum, animal hides specially prepared for writing, were cut down to the appropriate size. After the general layout of the page was planned (e.g. initial capital, borders), the page was lightly ruled with a pointed stick, and the scribe got to work with ink-pot and either sharpened quill feather or reed pen.

The script used depended on local customs and tastes. The sturdy Roman letters of the early Dark Ages gradually gave way to cursive scripts such as Uncial and half-Uncial, especially in the British isles, where distinctive scripts such as insular majuscule and insular miniscule developed. Stocky, richly textured Gothic script was first seen around the 13th century and was particularly popular in the later Middle Ages.

Images

When the text was complete, the illustrator set to work. Complex designs were planned out beforehand, probably on wax tablets, the sketch pad of the era. The design was then traced onto the vellum (possibly with the aid of pinprics or other markings, as in the case of the Lindisfarne Gospels).

Paints

The medieval artist's palette was surprisingly broad.

Color	Source(s)
Red	Rust (iron oxide, FeO3), madder plant, cinnabar (also called vermillion, mercury sulphide), so-called "red lead" (Pb3O4 cochineal insect
Yellow	yellow clay, saffron, other plants and minerals
Green	many plants (clorophyll is green), copper compounds
Blue	Woad, indigo, powdered lapis lazuli
White	Lead compounds, chalk, white clay
Gold	Gold, in leaf form (hammered extremely thin) or powdered, bound with glue, and painted on
Silver	Silver, either silver leaf or powdered, as above; or Tin leaf

Famous illuminated manuscripts

• The Vienna Genesis
• The Cotton Genesis
• The Ashburnham Pentateuch
• The Rossano Gospels
• The Paris Psalter
• The Book of Durrow
• The Durham Gospels
• The Echternach Gospels
• The Chad Gospels
• The Lindisfarne Gospels
• The Gospels of Queen Theodelinda
• The Codex Amiatinus
• The Lindau Gospels
• The Book of Kells
• The Moutier-Grandval Bible
• The First Bible of Charles the Bald
• The Gospels of St. Medard de Soissons
• The Utrecht Psalter
• The Ebo Gospels
• The Codex Aureus of Echternach
• The Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram
• The Pericopes of Henry II
• The Drogo Sacramentary
• The Berthold Missal
• The Vatopedi Psalter
• The Paris Psalter
• The Cotton Psalter
• The St. Albans Psalter
• The Psalter of St. Louis
• The Windmill Psalter
• The Tickhill Psalter
• The Breviary of Charles V
• The Beaupre Antiphonary
• The Petits Heures
• Tres Riches Heures
• The Hours of Catherine of Cleves
• Ranworth Antiphoner

See also:

• List of Hiberno-Saxon illustrated manuscripts
• Gospel Book

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